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mb1988(Enthusiast)Enthusiast
20 Oct 2023

If I work 100% from home and choose to build my own work/office desk, can I claim the associated material costs as a deduction? If so, is there a limit of the total cost? For example am I able to spend $1000 on a slab of wood or even make a desk out of resin where the total cost may be $2,000.

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521 views
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AriATO(Community Support)Community Support
25 Oct 2023

Hi @mb1988


If you elect to build your work/office desk and the associated material cost $300 or more, you can't claim the whole amount in the income year you incurred that expense. You must claim a decline in value amount (often referred to as depreciation) for the work/office desk over the effective life of the desk. 


Decline in value is based on an item’s cost to you. This can include cost of raw materials. You can't include the cost of your labour in the cost of building the work/office desk. The amount of time you spent working from home doesn’t impact on your decline in value amount. However, you may be only entitled to a partial deduction for a yearly amount of decline in value of the desk if you also use the desk privately. 


Have a look at these links on our website about, Working from home expenses, Office furniture and equipment, and Effective life of an asset.

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Most helpful reply

AriATO(Community Support)Community Support
25 Oct 2023

Hi @mb1988


If you elect to build your work/office desk and the associated material cost $300 or more, you can't claim the whole amount in the income year you incurred that expense. You must claim a decline in value amount (often referred to as depreciation) for the work/office desk over the effective life of the desk. 


Decline in value is based on an item’s cost to you. This can include cost of raw materials. You can't include the cost of your labour in the cost of building the work/office desk. The amount of time you spent working from home doesn’t impact on your decline in value amount. However, you may be only entitled to a partial deduction for a yearly amount of decline in value of the desk if you also use the desk privately. 


Have a look at these links on our website about, Working from home expenses, Office furniture and equipment, and Effective life of an asset.

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